Sunday, Sep. 21, 2008

Battle of Breese goes to Mater Dei

Knights dispose of Central in two straight games

BREESE -- Before the Mater Dei Knights could hit the dance floor, they had to take care of business on the volleyball court.

Senior outside hitter Laura Thole blasted home seven kills and sophomore Alison Mueller added six as the Knights eased past cross-town rival Central 25-17, 25-20 Saturday afternoon.

Shortly after match point, Mater Dei's players quickly boarded their bus, anxious to get home and begin primping for the school's homecoming festivities later in the evening.

"We have hair to do, boyfriends to get ready for, dinner to go to, the dance to go to," said Mater Dei coach Fred Rakers. "There's too many things to do, and sometimes, not enough concern on the floor. Whatever. We got through it."

The Knights (11-1) couldn't let their guard against their chief rivals and they didn't in the always-entertaining matchup of Breese volleyball heavyweights.

Mater Dei trailed only briefly in Game 2, dispatching the Cougars (7-5) in 42 minutes.

"I wasn't thinking about homecoming before the match, but after it, I was like 'OK, let's go,'" Thole said. "We knew it would make it a better night if we won."

Seven different players netted kills for the Knights, who have won nine straight since their lone loss, a 20-25, 16-25 decision to O'Fallon on Sept. 9.

"I think it changed us a lot," said Thole, a Southern Illinois University Carbondale recruit. "We struggled a lot against O'Fallon, but we learned from it and have been better because of it. It was an eye-opener."

Using a lineup that includes two freshmen, three sophomores, a junior and three seniors, the Knights appear to have found the perfect mix. Setters Samantha Bedard and Nicole Strieker nearly got everybody into the act against Central.

Senior middle hitter Morgan Dall had four kills and five blocks, sophomore Kaley Boeckmann had three and junior Tabatha Albers and freshman Brooke Schulte had two apiece.

"Somebody asked me 'Maybe we should try this and this,'" Rakers said. "This is not the type of game to do that with because there's too much personality, too much chemistry.

"You don't want to mess with a mix. You can't take out an ingredient, throw something else in and have the same pie. It doesn't work."

The Knights jumped out to leads of 8-4, 12-6 and 19-12 in the first game. Leading 23-17, a Central error and a block by Dall closed it out.

The Cougars had seven errors in the game, a reoccurring theme this week. On Thursday in a three-game loss to Freeburg, Central committed 40 hitting errors.

"We played cleaner than Thursday night, but Thursday night was just a disaster," said Central coach Jim Cook. "There's just a lot of ifs on the table right now and we have to straighten them out. They have to go for more balls. We left way too many balls up above the net."

Brittany Monken and Kelsey Johnson each had five kills for the Cougars, who also received four apiece from Jena Hemann and Brenda Stroot. Central was missing senior middle hitter Stephanie Woker, who was attending her sister's wedding.

The second game was much tighter, as an ace by Hemann gave the Cougars a 17-16 lead. Tied at 18, an ace by Thole and kill by Mueller gave the Knights some breathing room.

Mater Dei finished off the Cougars on a three-point run by Strieker, getting a kill from Thole and two errors by Central. Despite the rare two-match home losing streak, Cook said the Cougars will be better for it when the postseason rolls around.

"That's what I tell the kids," Cook said. "I don't care what the rest of the people think of what our record is. Where are we going to be if we don't play this type of competition? I don't ever want to trade our schedule."

Contact reporter Rod Kloeckner at rkloeckner@bnd.com or 239-2663.